Anti-Semitic 9/11 Conspiracy Theorists Thrive 15 Years After Attacks

by:

Marilyn Mayo

September 9, 2016

Fifteen years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, DC, anti-Semites continue to spread conspiracy theories blaming Jews and Israel for the events of that day. Anti-Semites Christopher Bollyn, Ken O’Keefe, and Kevin Barrett are three such conspiracy theorists who spread the theory that 9/11 was a “false flag” operation by Israel and the Jews to control world events and create wars for their benefit.

Christopher Bollyn

Christopher Bollyn was one of the earliest promoters of anti-Semitic 9/11 conspiracy theories blaming Jews and Israel for the attacks. He first began writing about the attacks soon after they occurred as a reporter for American Free Press, the anti-Semitic conspiracy oriented newspaper. Since that time, Bollyn has doubled down on his arguments and promoted the view that the 9/11 attacks were a false flag operation by Israel and Jews which led to the “War on Terror.” He is now in the midst of a 2016 speaking tour across the U.S. at which he promotes these themes.

On his website, Bollyn asserts, “The terror attacks of 9/11 were an Israeli false-flag operation that was designed to be blamed on Arab Muslims for the sake of kick-starting the long-planned Zionist stratagem known as the 'War on Terror,' which is really an Israeli war agenda to be fought by the U.S.” Bollyn is not the only anti-Semitic 9/11 “truther” who is speaking to audiences in this country.

Ex-Marine Ken O’Keefe is another virulent anti-Semite who conducted a similar tour this past spring that promoted conspiracy theories about 9/11 and Jews. He ostensibly gave the tour to talk about security issues, but he focused on vilifying Jews and Israel. During the tour O’Keefe appeared in a video on YouTube in which he answers an interviewer’s questions about 9/11.

Ken O'Keefe

In the video, O’Keefe blames Israel and “traitors” in the U.S. government for carrying out the 9/11 attacks. He argues that Jewish neo-conservatives planned a Pearl Harbor-type event so that they and Israel could dominate the world. He describes Jews as “psychopaths” who are trying to carry out a war of aggression that he claims will lead to World War III.

While Bollyn and O’Keefe get their message out through their tours and YouTube, Kevin Barrett, a former professor, has promoted his anti-Semitic conspiracy theories through his blog, online radio show, books and appearances on Press TV, Iran’s English language news network and propaganda machine. He is also an editor at Veterans Today, an anti-Semitic website. But Barrett has gone beyond the 9/11 attacks to blame “Zionists” and for other events that he considers false flags, such as the terrorist attacks in Paris and in San Bernardino in 2015.

Kevin Barrett

In an article on the Veterans Today site this month, Barrett writes, “The same forces that orchestrated 9/11 – namely, Operation Gladio B [refers to a supposed secret operation to carry out false flag acts and blame them on Muslim extremists] which is essentially a joint NATO-Israeli project – continue to inflict trauma on the American people with their ongoing false flag operations.”

Barrett, who has said he was influenced by Bollyn’s work, has edited a number of books that feature an array of conspiracists and anti-Semites who blame “Zionists” for various terrorist acts that were carried out by Muslim extremists.

The fact that anti-Semites are promoting the idea that Israel and Jews are responsible for the 9/11 terrorist attacks 15 years after the event is not surprising. In 2003, ADL released a report that predicted that an industry would grow around these anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. In 2011, on the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, ADL released another report that highlighted how anti-Semites are continue to promote these deceitful theories to further their agenda.